My brother, Kurt Baue, of St. Charles, Missouri, and I were drafted about the same time in the mid-Sixties. He went to Vietnam while I was stateside. Like most people I knew guys that got killed over there. A lot of the grief was bottled up inside of me for years until in 1986 while in D.C. I visited the wall, looked up the name of a close friend, and cried my eyes out for a long time. Later we began hearing about The Run For The Wall. In 2011, Kurt visited the riders during their stop in Wentzville, MO, and shortly thereafter declared his intention to go in 2012. I said “I’m coming, too.” He would ride his 1975 Norton 850, and I would drive the car with camping gear and trailer. While thinking about the trip and the whole Vietnam experience, I wrote a song, simply called “The Run For The Wall.” (I’ve been a writer and musician for many years.) I had a chance to sing it for the Central Route riders at Hurricane, WV, on Thursday, May 24, during the pre-meeting auction run by Patopato to help the Rainelle Elementary School. People responded warmly. I gave a copy of the lyric sheet to Patopato, and he immediately held it up and said, “What am I bid?” Someone yelled, “A hundred dollars!” The two hundred. Two-fifty. Finally the bidding stopped at six hundred dollars! I was knocked out. Then Patopato asked if they wanted to hear the song again. They stomped and hollered, and when I sang it again they all sang out on the refrain as tears ran down their cheeks. Many said afterwards that the song brought healing to them. It did for me, too.Many asked for lyrics, so here they are. A recording is also available. Details below.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you, RFTW 2012.

THE RUN FOR THE WALLWords and Music by Fred Baue

1.We grew up in the Fifties, in cities, on farms,Then along came the Sixties and our call to arms.Like our fathers before us, we answered the call.Refrain: We are making THE RUN FOR THE WALL.

2. From duck-tails and hot rods and homecoming queens,To the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, Marines.We were young. We were tough. We were ready for hell. We are making THE RUN FOR THE WALL.

3. In the heat and the jungle, the rain and the mud,The claymores, the firefights, the fear and the blood,With our buddies beside us we stood brave and tall. We are making THE RUN FOR THE WALL.

4. There were some that were broken in body or mind.There were some that were killed, even some left behind.They have not been forgotten by one, or by all. We are making THE RUN FOR THE WALL.

5. When at last we came home did we find a parade?Marching bands? Pretty girls with batons? Accolades?Or derision and hate from the weak and the small? We are making THE RUN FOR THE WALL.

6. Though we suffered so much, we find healing today.We will rev up our Harleys and ride from LATo DC, look up names that we know, stand and bawl. We are making THE RUN FOR THE WALL.

7. May our sons and our daughters in this, our fair land,Have the wisdom for peace, have the courage to standFor our country, and fight, if they must, lest she fall. Last Refrain: We are making the run,We are making the run,We are making THE RUN FOR THE WALL.

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Rev. Frederic W. Baue, Ph.D., also known as “Fritz,” is something of a Renaissance man, or so people say. He is an accomplished musician, songwriter, hymn writer (see LSB 629), recording artist, writer, novelist, poet, teacher, public speaker, theologian, and comic. But most of all, he is, in the old phrase, “a pastor of Missouri Synod.” A proud graduate of “801” (CSL ’81), Baue served congregations in Minnesota, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Illinois before retiring in 2011. His doctorate in English literature led to his work as Senior Editor at CPH (1999-2004), where he managed Portals of Prayer and Concordia Pulpit Resources while producing books such as The Lonely Way, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel, The Fire and the Staff and many others. He and his wife Jean live in St. Louis. They have three grown children. And two cats.